U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,222 describes the reaction 2 RSiCl.sub.3 +MeSiH.sub.3 .fwdarw.2 RSiHCl.sub.2 +MeSiHCl.sub.2. However, this reaction is carried out in the presence of the homogeneous catalysts R.sub.4 NCl or R.sub.4 PCl.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,310 describes a process in which the preparation of alkyl- or aryldichlorosilanes is also mentioned. However, the reactions are homogeneously catalyzed by, for example, AlCl.sub.3, KAlCl.sub.4.
EP 147834 describes a process in which the preparation of alkyl- or aryldichlorosilanes is also mentioned. The reaction is catalyzed in the presence of crystalline Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.
DE 4208152 describes a catalyst containing a quaternary ammonium group which is used for catalyzing the transfer of hydrogen to dimethyldichlorosilane.
Disadvantages of the prior art are that use is made of homogeneous catalysts which have to be recovered by means of an additional process step and/or that the processes give the product a low yield.